


I'm Not Alone in My Mind

by Catelincat



Category: The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Adoption, Bruce has a kid, F/F, F/M, Fluff, M/M, Mentions of Multiple Personality Disorder, Pining, SO, all pairings start off as pre-slash, don't mean any offense, femOCis a bit messed up, lots of pining, so not really adoption, sorta - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-27
Updated: 2018-12-13
Packaged: 2019-01-23 22:09:12
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,387
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12517644
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Catelincat/pseuds/Catelincat
Summary: Bruce Banner wasn't one for sleeping around even before his 'accident'. But while attending a conference  in Germany General Ross makes an attempt to capture him despite his status as an Avenger. Struggling to keep from 'Hulking Out', Bruce is saved by a young girl with blond hair and his nose.





	1. Who Are You?

Bruce sighed. Just once, would he have liked to go to a conference, make his speech, than chat with other scientists without eventually having to doge bullets and cower behind a stand trying to convince the Hulk from making an appearance. Why did he ever think it would be a good idea to go to a conference in Germany without backup. Scratch that why did he let Tony convince him.  A shot rang out making the Hulk growl and Bruce's eyes turn green.

"Psst."

Bruce jumped and whipped his head around. He spotted a small girl with wavy blond hair, bright blue eyes twinkling with mischief, freckles, and a wide grin on her face. She looked happy, not terrified of the man that was just one shock away from turning into a giant green monster capable of crushing her head with a gentle squeeze of a hand.

" You should get out of here." She says with an energetic skip. " I know a way. Well, চিন্তা does, but she told me about it so I know too." She takes his hand and drags him over to a hat stand.  It was one of those save the environment ones that literally everyone was wearing. She grabbed one and shoved it onto his head. She had to jump to do that, she couldn't be older than eleven, maybe twelve. 

Bruce blinked suddenly realizing that he was being led around a building full of people trying to hunt him by a child. Before he could protest, she dragged him past a guard and he was out of the building. He blinked again.

"How did you do that?" He asks, astonished that he had gotten out so easily. He continued to follow her down the street as she led the way to .....somewhere. She was wearing a dark green turtle neck under a raggedy, pink, zip-up hoodie, dark blue jeans, and weather beaten sneakers. She turned her head, still smiling that 100 mega-watt smile.

" চিন্তা said that in a crowded environment it is impossible to be able to legally search each person without there being a threat and as those were American soldiers, they don't have the authority. So by me clinging to you and you not acting like you were trying to run they didn't see any reason to suspect that you were the one they were after as everyone knows you don't have kids and the hat was covering your face." She explained happily skipping along.  


Bruce shook his head in disbelief. "And that worked?" He asked incredulously.

"Well, duh! We're here aren't we?" She says, still with that bright smile. " Ducky says that people are ignorant buffoons." She said brightly, leading him into the airport. He blinked realizing where he was.

Before he could ask her more questions his phone went off. He picked it up.

"Hello?"

"Brucie! Oh, good you're not green. Wherever you are stay there and we'll come pick you up."

"Thanks, Tony. I'm at the airport. I think I'm safe here for a bit."

"What are you doing at the airport? I thought you were at the conference."

"Well, this kid helped get me out of there."

"Kid? Hmmm."

"Tony? When do you think you'll get here?"

" We're landing now."

"Alright." Bruce said before hanging up.

He turned to the Girl who was busy scanning the entry ways with cold eyes, her smile gone. It was unsettling to say the least. Her cheery demeanor, they way her body seemed to vibrate with energy, and her random giggles were gone. In their place was a chilling coldness, a set to her posture that spoke of one you would not want to cross, and she was almost disturbingly silent.

"Umm, my friends are here to pick me up. So, thank you?" Bruce said warily, not sure if this was some sort of elaborate scheme of General Ross.

The girl nodded stiffly before walking away without a backwards glance.

Bruce watched her go before losing her in the crowd. Puzzled, he hurriedly made his way through the airport not wanting to chance being caught by General Ross.


	2. Discovery

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I know nothing about Multiple People Personality Disorder. I hope I don't offend anyone, but just to clarify, my OC does not have Multiple People Personality....sorta....it's similar, but different. It'll be explained later.  
> Other than my OC and the plot everything belongs to whoever owns Marvel now.

Ludilo scampered across the rooftops in an attempt to not be late, flipping of a roof and onto a garden wall she reminisced about the one time she met her Dad.

" _It was literally two weeks ago."_ Ducky said rolling her eyes.

" **But even two seconds from one's family can feel like a**   **century!** " 希望 said with a dramatic swoon.

" You know," Ludilo said as she landed in an alley across from the cafe they work at in the morning, "My name may literally mean insanity, but I think 希望 could give me arun for my money."

 "Don't give her ideas. It's bad enough that she was the first to interact with him, but telling her that she should behave like the insane one..." চিন্তা grumbled.

"Yeah, yeah. Now we're here so,  Ποντίκι you're up!" Ludilo said with a grand flourish."

Anyone walking down the street would have raised their eyebrows at the spectacle. A solitary girl talking to herself while making exaggerated gestures.

With a sigh, Ποντίκι entered the small cafe and, after apologizing to the old lady who ran the place for her tardiness, went about her shift. The others were mercifully silent which was starting to become rather disturbing if she was being honest. Her mind, usually a hubbub of activity with frequent shouting matches has dimmed down to the occasional mutter from one corner or the other. It had become like this shortly after meeting their Father for the first time. To come face to face with someone you never thought you'd meet despite searching for them.....well, to say it was startling would be a gross understatement. 

So, the day went. চিন্তা switched with Ποντίκι for the shift at the watch repair shop, Ducky switched with চিন্তা at the library,希望 switched with Ducky at the tattoo parlor, and finally Ludilo switched with 希望  at the bar. By the time they began the walk home, it was already two in the morning and Vernandi was growling at Ludilo to let her take over so that they could just rest in a tree. 

They passed by the local post office and noticed that it was opening, ( _Now isn't that depressing._ <Ducky>) knowing that they probably wouldn't get a chance to check their post for another couple of weeks she decided, why the hell not.

Ducking inside, Ludilo ignored the others pathetic whines for sleep and made her way over to their mailbox. Opening it up she was surprised to find a small, sleek box inside. Carefully taking it out she placed it in her coat before heading to the nearby park, home to tall tree that most people couldn't climb. Giving the reins over to Vernandi, Ludilo retreated to her corner of Mind and pondered over the mysterious box. 


	3. America, Land of General Ross's Obsession with Our Father

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The gals go to America. And a few truths come to light.

“Not this again!” Ludilo moaned, accompanied by the groans of her fellow siblings.   
“Yes, this again!” Ducky snapped.   
“I want to know why all of you decided that it would be a good idea to randomly show up at his home uninvited and dump all this insanity that is our life on him!” Ducky continued pacing around the Mind’s common room.   
Cinta chittered.    
“It was not the best course of action!” Ducky yelled.   
“But, who are we to ignore such a gracious, beautiful, graceful, eloquent, splendiforous, invitation?” Ludilo said, collapsing onto 希望 with a dramatic swoon.   
“She’s right ya’ know. We did get an invitation.” 希望said giggling and prodding at the snoring Vernandi.   
“I am well aware that the ‘kid with the gahanas enough to save Brucie’ was invited. Not the ‘long lost ,mentally unstable, is actually more than one person, messed up daughter of said Brucie’.” Ducky ranted, glaring at Ludilo who had somehow conjured up a laser pointer and was attempting to get a slowly angering Vernandi to play.   
Cinta calmly dropped from the vent onto the top of a refrigerator.   
“Be pissed all you want, my foul feathered friend. But we are now here and fully intend on enjoying this awesome break the Mistress Universe has deemed fit for us.” Ludilo said and pouted when Poniki took the laser pointer away before Vernandi could pounce.    
“Oh, fine!” Ducky huffed. “But I still stand by not telling him about his role in our life.” She said with finality.   
“Yah, yah.” Ludilo agreed, flapping her hand at her sister in a way that managed to irritate Ducky more than she already was. Which was an impressive feat that Ludilo was quite proud of.   
Snapping at Ludilo, she joined her siblings on the couch which faced the screen through which they could observe the outside the Mind. There were currently eight screens which made watching quite difficult.    
“Well, I’m off!” 希望 declared, making her way to the changing room.   
“ And just where do you think you’re going?” Ducky inquired raising an eyebrow.   
“To switch out with Cinta, duh.” 希望 answered with a matching raised eyebrow.   
“I suppose that makes sense, given that you were the only one of us to interact with him.” Ducky allowed. Then settled down into a more comfortable position on the couch. 希望 rolled her eyes and then switched out with Cinta.   
  
Clint thought himself pretty used to weird things going on around him. Heck, he fought a giant slime octopus last Thursday! Not to mention living with two mad scientists, a Norse God of Thunder, a ex-Russian assasin, a living museum piece, and a man he was pretty sure was a robot. So, yeah. He figured that he was used to weirdness.   
And yet, he still found himself in a staring contest with a tiny-ass spider. And he was losing. Why was he staring down a spider, he had no clue. All he knows is that there was something weir going on. A familiar weird. That was never good. He only felt that there was a familiar weird thing going on when he ran into Barney again. And that time he ran into Trickshot and then proceeded to send him to the hospital with multiple arrows protruding out of his body.    
So, yeah.

He was staring at a spider smaller than his thumbnail.   
“What are you doing?”   
Clint will deny his shriek to his dying day.   
“Taaaash, you’re gonna give me a heart attack.” He whined, glancing at the now spider free counter.   
The red head just raised an eyebrow.   
“I would ask why you were staring at a spider like you would stare at a target, but I’m afraid of the answer.” She continued, leaning against the counter.   
“The fearsome Black Widow, afraid? Has the world come to an end.” Tony quipped, practically skipping into the room.   
Natasha turned what Clint had lovingly dubbed her ‘ I am probably going to hack into all your servers and publish what I find on your Twitter account’ face. Though, directed at Tony, was more of a ‘ I will tell Pepper that this is the first time you have left your workshop for a week’ face.   
Tony blanched and inched around her towards the coffee pot.   
“Hi!”   
The trio whirled around in shock.   
Sitting on the end of the counter was a small whip of a girl, with tousled blonde hair and bright blue eyes.   
“Umm. Jarvis?” Tony inquired, as Clint and Natasha cautiously shifted into more defensive positions.   
“I believe the child who saved Dr. Banner took up your invitation to come visit sooner than expected.” 

“Yep that’s me!” The girl said, hopping of the counter. “The name’s 希望 and while I’d love to stay and chat, Ducky is going to blow a fuse so I gotta get back and save Ludilo from an untimely and possibly gruesome fate.”   
She continued walking to the elevator with her hands in her pocket. “Tell the Doc I said hi!” She finished with a wink. The elevator doors closed and the girl was gone, leaving two gaping superheroes in her wake.( Natasha doesn’t gape)   
“Jarvis, did she just bypass all of my security and then run off without explaining her presence at all?” Tony asked, breaking the awkward silence.   
“Yes, sir.”   
“How did she get in?” Natasha asked sharply as Clint was staring at the elevator as if he’d seen a ghost.   
“She climbed out of the cupboard under the sink.” Jarvis replied.   
Tony scrunched his nose. “But how did she get in there?” He asked.   
Clint snorted. “Magic.” Is all he said as swung himself into the vents.   
“Oi, what have I said about being in the vents? And what do you mean  by magic?” Tony shouted after the archer. He was met by silence. “ All right be mysterious.” He huffed. “ Hey Nat....and now she’s gone too. Great.” He looked around the empty common room and shrugged. Filling up his mug with coffee, he made his way back to his workshop to puzzle over the apparent security flaw he has.   
  
“What the flying fudge cakes,希望!” Ludilo yelled as in the background Ducky was smugly yelling, “I told you so!”   
“I  have forgotten to come up with an adequate reason for us to be there, but I still think that this was the right choice.” Cinta argued.   
“ How was this the right choice?!” Ducky yelled. “We walked in there and then did an impression of apathetic cat. In front of Dr. Stark no less!” She ranted, once again pacing about the Mind.

“Well now they have our finger prints and DNA.” 希望 pointed out.   
Ducky froze mid rant.   
“What?!” She screeched, whipping her head to look at her sister. 希望 just kept on skipping along merrily, humming a familiar tune.    
“Well, what did ya think I was gonna do?” She drawled, ignoring the odd looks she was getting at talking to herself. “We came all this way to live with him didn’t we?”    
“No!”   
“Hell uea!”   
“Yes”   
“Sigh”   
“Grrr”   
“See, Ducky? You’re out voted!” 希望 said with a sing-song lilt. “Now that that is all cleared up,” She continued, ignoring Ducky’s protests, “What should we do ‘bout our tail?”   
“Shove it in our pants as always.” Ludilo replied.   
“Allow me to take over, 希望.” Cinta said, already moving to the changing room. “Vernandi?”   
The sleeping form on the couch stirred.   
“Stay on stand by.” Cinta ordered before making the switch.   
  
  
Something was off. Of course Clint had known that from when he first laid eyes on that spider. Although, he really wasn’t expecting a Mini Talia to randomly appear. Nope, not at all.   
“Clint?”   
“Yes, Tasha?” Clint replied never taking his gaze of the small form weaving her way through New York’s heavy pedestrian traffic.   
“The DNA results came back.”    
“And?”    
“It’s a match for Talia Smithers.”   
“And?”   
“....Bruce Banner.”   
“.......”   
“Clint?”   
“I’m going to kill him.” Was all he said as he Made his way off the roof he was perched on and followed the girl into an alleyway. Only to be met by a trash can lid to the face.   
“Whoa, hold up kid!” He Protested, holding his hands up in surrender. “I’m not gonna hurt you.”   
“I know zat.” The girl said with a thick, very hard to place, yet familiar accent. “I just vanted to see how fast your reflexez vere.” She continued.   
Clint chuckled despite himself. “C’mon kid. You don’t just randomly show up at your honorary Godfather’s door and expect to be let go that easy.” He ignored the startled gasp from what sounded like everyone in the comm.   
The girl raised an eyebrow. It was weird how differently she was behaving as compared to earlier. She was definitely calmer and the way she was holding herself made him a bit twitchy, as if he had just walked himself into her trap.   
“Zat is an interesting statement.” She said, eyeing his bow cautiously. “Vat is your name?”   
Clint smiled and eased his bow down to his side.   
“Clint Barton. But your Mom used to call me Francis.” He replied, wincing at the delighted whoop of triumph from Tony, who had been trying to find out what the F stood for since they first met.   
The girls’ posture relaxed, before nodding to him. “Very vell. Ve vill go vith you.” She said, already making her way out of the alleyway. Her posture changed yet again as she looked over her shoulder with a gleeful grin and called “Race you!” Before darting out into the crowded sidewalk.   
Blinking rapidly for a moment, Clint smirked and quickly fired a grappling arrow onto the roof. Once up there he made it to Avengers Tower in under ten minutes. He was met by the entire team looking at him with various expressions. Tony was looking gleeful (which did not bode well for his continuing sanity), Thor was staring worriedly at Bruce who was staring at the DNA tests with something akin to horror. Natasha was watching him to prevent him from doing something stupid while Steve was just.....making hot Cocoa.    
“Give me one good reason not to punch you right now.” Was all Clint said, staring down the fidgeting scientist.   
“ I could give you a very big green reason.” Tony interjected. Clint ignored him.   
“I didn’t know.” Bruce whispered hoarsely. “God...if I had known.....”    
Something in Clint unclenched at the broken and somewhat terrified expression on the scientists’ face. Clint knew that the Doc was a good person and Talia could take care of herself. It was mainly the idea of Talia being abandoned with a child that was pissing him off.

“Pardon the interruption, Master Stark.” JARVIS interrupted. “But the young Miss Smithers is in the elevator and will be arriving shortly.”   
“Ok, maybe Bird brains should be the one to talk with the kid.” Tony said.   
The others nodded before slinking off to some corner of the tower. (AKA the nearest place that they could easily eavesdrop from without being noticed)   
Clint took a minute to relax his shoulders,before starting on making a pot of stew. He heard the elevator doors open and called out,   
“In the Kitchen.”   
A quiet shuffle was all he heard before he saw the Mini Talia hoist herself onto the counter.   
“You cheated.” She said with an adorable pout.   
Clint smirked. “What’s the matter, kid? Can’t keep up with an old man?”

“No! I was just playing fair.” She protested.

Clint let out a chuckle. “Sure, kid.” He quickly ladled some stew into two bowls and slid one over to her.   
“What’s this?” She asked sniffing at it curiously.   
“This is my special stew.” Clint said taking a bite. He took a moment to savor the flavor before adding. “Your Mom taught me how to make it.”   
The girls’ eyes widened in surprise.   
“You knew my mom?!” She asked excitedly.   
“Yeah, we were in the circus together back when I was around your age.” Clint said, smiling even though something in him broke each time the girl used the past tense in regards to her mother. “How is Tali these days?” He asked even though he wasn’t sure he was going to like the answer.

The girl’s smile dimmed somewhat before taking an apprehensive spoonful of stew.

“God, this is goooooooood!” She moaned.

Clint smiled, but still raised an eyebrow to let her know that he wasn’t going to let her change the subject.

She sighed. 

“You said, “ Honorary Godfather’, right?” She asked, studying his face seriously.

“Yep, Tali and I had a pact that if one of us had kids, the other would be their godparent.” Clint explained, noting that her posture remained the same.

“Oh.” Is all the girl said as she dragged her spoon through her stew in complicated patterns.

Suddenly, the girls posture changed. Her back straightened from her previous hunch over her bowel to clinically straight. Her blue eyes, previously full of mirth and happiness, now were narrowed and calculating.

“Did you know about us?” She asked sharply.

Clint gave a small smile. “Nope, she and I split ways a good 14 years ago.”

The girl gave a sharp nod before changing her posture again. 

“Sooooo, what’s your name again?” She asked smiling brightly.

“Clint Barton, but you can call me Uncle Clint.” Clint said, a suspicion forming in his mind. 

“So, what are your names?” He asked casually, taking a bite of stew.

The girls smile got even brighter, if that was even possible, before answering enthusiastically. 

My name is Kibou, and you already met Cinta, Ludilo and Ducky. Cinta was the one who threw the trash can lid at you, while Ludilo was the one who raced you here, and Ducky was the rude one who asked you The Question.” She rattled off. 

“Oh? Hello, guys!” Clint said waving at her.

Kibou giggled. “You still haven’t met Poniki and Vernandi, but they don’t really like being out much. Ludilo says hi though.” She added, giggling like it was an inside joke. 

She purses her lips before her posture changed to that of before again.

“What do you want from us?” She asked again, the same sharpness to her voice.

Clint shrugged. “You came to us, remember? I think the question is why are you here?” He asked back.

The girls face darkened. “I’m wondering the same thing.” She said, glaring at nothing in particular.

“You don’t seem surprised by our condition.” She stated, her blue eyes scrutinizing him for hidden agendas.

Clint shrugged. “There was a guy at the circus who was part of a collective. They took us kiddos under their wing, made it a lot easier for us than it could have been.” He explained, careful not to let any walls come up and cause distrust.

“Our Mother is dead.” She said abruptly. She looked down at the stew. “We are staying with a family in foster care.” She continued, taking a bite of the stew.

He had suspected as much but the confirmation of his suspicions was like a bucket of cold ice being poured over his head. 

“They treating you right?” Clint asked, his voice hoarse.

The girls head shot up, her eyes finding his.

“Oh, dear. You’re  _ feeling _ .” Was all she said before she changed again.

Before he knew it Clint found himself with a lapfull of blonde hair and energy. It took him a moment to register what just happened before quickly hugging her tight.

“How long!” He asked softly.

“ Six years or so.” She whispered softly.

Clint doesn’t cry. He lost that ability a long time ago, in a circus that treated him like dirt, in a farmhouse with shouting and beatings, in a warehouse bleeding out with the bitter sting of betrayal hurting worse than any of his injuries, in the ruins of a city, a city he helped ruin. And yet he found himself dangerously close to letting tears fall.

“I’m so sorry.” He whispered brokenly.

The girl just squeezed him tighter. “It’s okay.” She whispered back.

That was how Natasha found them. Both not doing anything, just holding onto each other.  Serving herself a bowl of stew, she settled herself down to watching them.

After a few minutes Kibou sifted on his lap.

“Is she just gonna sit there and stare?” She whispered.

Clint chuckled. “Yep, why don’t you say hi?”

Kibou turned her head and smiled. “Hi!”

Natasha quirked an eyebrow and inclined her head. 

Just then a chime rang from the Kibou’s phone. She leapt out of Clint’s lap in surprise.

“Flying fudge cakes! Is that the time? We gotta get going otherwise our foster fam’ll be pissed” she exclaimed, twirling around with a wild gleam in her eyes. She stopped twirling long enough to look the startled assasions in the eye and say;

“I’m Ludilo by the way!” And promptly exiting out the window.

Natasha bolted out of her seat, but was surprised to find that Clint just chuckled.

“Just like their Mom.”

Natasha raised an eyebrow. “And are you going to explain what you mean by that?” She asked.

“I think we all want to hear this.” Steve said coming to sit at the counter followed by the others.

Bruce was still pale and obviously freaking out, while the others mainly looked curious. 

Clint sighed. “ Not that much to explain. I knew her Mom back from my circus days. She was the first friend I had. We stuck together through thick and thin.” Clint paused and took a deep breath, fixing his gaze to a spot on the counter, he continued. “Then, shortly after I…..left the circus, she split too. She found me on her way to Germany and said she was going to go explore the world.” He shifted his gaze to Bruce. “That was the last I’d heard from her for 14 years.” The rest turned to look at Bruce.

“I had just delivered my first speech on my thesis and signed on with General Ross,” here the scientist took a deep breath before continuing. “ I had decided to take up some fellow scientists offer to go out and hit the town. We hit a bar and I met a girl. She didn’t give me her name and I didn’t give her mine. We both knew that this was a one time thing and neither of us were drunk…..” Bruce trailed off looking down at the table ashamed. 

The table was quiet for a moment. Then it wasn’t. 

“You were both consenting adults and I’m sure if she had wanted you to help her, she would have asked you to the moment her kid was born.” Clint assured the obviously distraught scientist. 

“Verily, as the man of Hawks has said. There was nothing you could have done.” Thor added, comfortingly patting Bruce on the back.

Tony seemed rather quiet as everyone added their support.

“Tony? Are you ok?” Steve asked quietly. 

Tony looked at Steve with wide eyes. “What if I have a kid out there?” He whispered.

Steve shrugged. “Maybe you do, maybe you don’t. The real question is, what would you do if there is a kid of yours out there?” 

Steve then turned back to the others, who were already working on tracking mini Banner down, leaving Tony to come to the right answer on his own. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soo, it's been awhile. I want to apologize for everyone that has been waiting on this fic and all my others. I just.....haven't been able to write for a long time. I promise I will get back to them all, but progress will be slow.  
> Moving on, here is a list of what the names mean. It's been soo long that I've kinda forgotten the some of the languages that I took them from.  
> Vernandi- Hunter (Latin, I think)  
> Ludilo- Insanity (Completely forgot)  
> চিন্তা (Cinta) -Thought (Bangla I think)  
> Ποντίκι (Poniki)- Mouse (Greek)  
> 希望 (Kibou)- Wish, Hope (Japanese)  
> Here they all are! Fun fact: Excepting Japanese, these are all languages that I attempted to learn and gave up on. Japanese is my second language.  
> Weeel, that's all for now. TTYN Ta Ta For Now.  
> You're comments and kudos keep this fic (and myself) living!


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